Upper Darby board appoints Essence Cohen Fields and David Neal to fill two vacancies
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Summary
After interviewing three applicants, the Upper Darby School District board voted to appoint Essence Cohen Fields and David Neal to fill two unexpired board terms; resignations from Kimberly Gillen and Michelle Piantini Cow were accepted and interviews followed a 30-day vacancy rule.
The Upper Darby School District board selected Essence Cohen Fields and David Neal to fill two vacancies on the board after interviewing three candidates. The appointments follow the board's acceptance of resignations from Kimberly Gillen and Michelle Piantini Cow; the chair said Gillen's resignation was accepted effective Nov. 11, 2025 and that board policy requires vacancies be filled within 30 days.
Fields introduced herself as a Drexel Hill resident and a licensed professional counselor who works in the School District of Philadelphia and named budgeting, student mental health and safety, and teacher retention as her top priorities for Upper Darby. "When teachers feel supported and they thrive, so do the students," she said during her three-minute statement.
David Neal, who served on the board from 2019 to 2023 and now is dean of student affairs and athletics at Strathaven Middle School, said the district's most pressing issues are unstable school funding, facilities modernization and curriculum review. He told the board he can bring fiscal oversight and programmatic experience from his current role managing a $145,000 athletics budget.
After nominations closed, the board conducted a poll in which each member named two nominees. The board announced that Fields and Neal had been selected to fill the two open seats; the newly appointed members subsequently took the oath of office administered by the chair.
The chair explained the board's process for interviewing and selecting appointees: each applicant delivers a three-minute opening statement, answers one question from each board member and answers follow-ups limited to prior responses; members of the public may observe but not interject during interviews. The administration said applicants will be interviewed in the order in which their applications were received and that the selected appointees will serve the unexpired term through December 2027.
Next steps noted by the board include formally placing the selected members on board records and assigning liaison and committee duties as the board schedules them.